This invention relates to animal feedstuffs and is particularly concerned with providing a useful feedstuff from fluffy cotton seed.
Fluffy cotton seed is cotton seed which includes a quantity of adherent cotton fibres and is the product left over after the main cotton ball has been removed by ginning. It is produced in large amounts and is generally a waste product. However, because of its high nutrient quality, it has been considered for use as an animal feed supplement and in this context has been used by dairy farms.
The use of fluffy cotton seed for large scale feeding of a wide range of animals would be highly desirable but this has generally been negated due to the tendency of the cotton fibrils of neighbouring seeds to tangle with one another to form large masses resulting in difficulties in bulk handling, particularly the flowability of the product. As a means around this problem, delinting has been proposed by mechanical or chemical means but this added expense has generally negated the commercial viability of the product as an inexpensive feedstuff.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to obviate this disadvantage and to simultaneously provide a feedstuff which is highly nutritive and acceptable to animals.